Middle english literature (1100-1485) The Literature of the Norman Period

liam the Conqueror became complete master of the whole England.

The lands of most of the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy were given to the Norman barons, and they introduced their feudal laws to compel the peasants to work for them. The English became an oppressed nation.

William the Conqueror could not speak a word of English. He and his barons spoke the Norman dialect of the French language; but the Anglo-Saxon dialect was not suppressed. During the following 200 years communication went on in three languages: 1) Latin at the monasteries; 2) Norman-French at court and in official institutions; 3) The common people held firmly to their mother tongue.

In the 13th century the first universities in Oxford and Cambridge were founded. So, during the Anglo-Norman period feudal culture was at its height.

By about 1300 English had again become the chief national language but in altered form called Middle English. Middle English included elements of French, Latin, Old English, and local dialects.

Tales in verse and lyrical poems appeared praising the bravery and gallantry of noble knights, their heroic deeds and chivalrous attitude towards ladies. At first they were all in Norman-French. Many of the stories came from old French sources, the language of which was a Romanic dialect, and for that reason these works were called “romances”. They were brought to England by medieval poets called “trouveres” (finders), who came from France with the Norman conquerors. Later in England such poets were called minstrels and their art of composing romances and ballads and singing them was called the art of minstrelsy.

A number of romances were based on Celtic legends, especially those about King Arthur and the knights. The heroes of these romances, unlike the characters of church literature, were human beings who loved, hated and suffered. Their worship of fair ladies motivated the plots of the stories.

In the 15th century Sir Thomas Malory (1395? -1471) collected the romances of King Arthur and arranged them in a series of stories in prose, intelligible to any modern render. The words in Malory's sentences have a beauty of movement, which cannot escape unnoticed. The stories began with the birth of Arthur and how he became king, then related all the adventures of King Arthur and his noble knights and ended in the death of these knights and of Arthur himself.

The work was published in 1485 by Caxton, the first English printer, at Westminster (London), under the title of “Sir Thomas Malory's Book of King Arthur and of His Noble Knights of Round Table”. The book was more widely known as “Morte d'Arthur” (old French for “Death of Arthur”).

This epic in twenty-one books reflects the evolution of feudal society, its ideals, beliefs and tragedies. Malory's romance is the most complete English version of stories about King Arthur.

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The Medieval Romance

In the medieval period the term “romance” meant a long narrative in verse or prose telling of the adventures of a hero. These stories of adventure usually include knights, ladies in distress, kings, and villains. The material for the medieval romance in English was mainly drawn from the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. This subject matter is sometimes called the “Matter of Britain”.

Central to the medieval romance was the code of chivalry, the rules and customs connected with knighthood. Originally chivalry (from the French word “chevalier”, which means “knight” or “horseman”) referred to the practice of training knights for the purpose of fighting. The qualities of the ideal courtly knight in the Middle Ages were bravery, honor, courtesy, protection of the weak, respect for women, generosity, and fairness to enemies. An important element in the code of chivalry was the ideal of courtly love. This concept required a knight to serve a virtuous noblewoman (often married) and perform brave deeds to prove his devotion while she remained chaste and unattainable.

The code of chivalry and the ideal of courtly love were still in evidence during the Renaissance as well. Knights and courtiers who wrote on courtly themes included the Earl of Surrey, Sir Thomas Wyatt, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney wrote highly formalized portraits of ideal love.

Medieval romance and its attendant codes of chivalry and courtly love faded in the Age of Reason during the XVIII century, but in the nineteenth century, Romanticism brought back the ideals of chivalry.

Treatment of the romance themes of chivalry and courtly love are still the topics of literature. Historical fiction often attempts to recreate the world of the Middle Ages.

Fable and Fabliau

In urban literature fables and fabliaux were also popular. Fable is a short tale or prolonged personification with animal characters intended to convey a moral truth; it's a myth, a fiction, a falsehood. It's a short story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents. Fabliaux are funny metrical short stories about cunning humbugs and the unfaithful wives of rich merchants. These tales were popular in medieval France. These stories were told in the dialects of Middle English. They were usually comic, frankly coarse and often cynical. The urban literature did not idealize characters as the romances did. The fabliaux show a practical attitude to life.

Pre-Renaissance Period in English Literature

In the 14th century the Norman kings made London their residence. It became the most inhabited and busy town in England. (The London dialect was the central dialect, and could be understood throughout the country). Even peasants who wished to get free of their masters went to London. But the life in the country was miserable especially with the so-called Hundred Years' War flamed by king Edward against France. There was another burden on people's shoulders - rich foreign bishops of the Catholic Church, who did not care of people's sufferings. The protest against the Catholic Сhurch and the growth of national feeling during the first years of the War found the reflection in literature. There appeared poor priests who wandered from one village to another and talked to the people. They protested not only against rich bishops but also against churchmen who were ignorant and could not teach people anything. Among poor priests were then acknowledged poets William Langland and John Wyclif.

William Langland (1332?-1400?) was a poor priest. His parents were poor but free peasants. He denounced the rich churchmen and said that everybody was obliged to work. His name is remembered for a poem he wrote, “The Visions of William Concerning Piers the Ploughman” (Piers -Peter). Nowadays the poem is called “Piers Plowman”.

“Piers Plowman” is an allegorical poem. In it Vice and Virtue are spoken of as if they were human beings. Truth is a young maiden, Greed is an old witch. The poem was very popular in the Middle Ages. It begins with a vision which the poet William had on the Malvern Hills. In a long and complicated succession of scenes Langland portrays almost every side of fourteenth-century life. In his dream the poet sees Piers the Ploughman, a peasant. Piers tells him about the hard life of the people. He sees the corruption of wealth, and the inadequacies of government. To him, the only salvation lies in honest labour and in the service of Christ. If Langland were not a mystic, he would have been a revolutionary. He is the nearest approach to Dante in English poetry, for despite his roughness, and the bleak atmosphere of much of his work, he has written the greatest poem in English devoted to the Christian way of life.

But modern poetry begins with one of the most prominent people of the Middle English period - Geoffrey Chaucer, diplomat, soldier and scholar.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 - 1400)

Geoffrey Chaucer is listed by most scholars as one of the three greatest poets in English literature (along with William Shakespeare and John Milton). He was born in London. His father, John Chaucer, was a wine merchant. In 1357 Geoffrey was listed as a page in the household of the wife of Prince Lionel, a son of Edward III. His service in that household indicates that his family had sufficient social status for him to receive a courtly education. Throughout the rest of his lifetime, Chaucer was in some way connected with members of the royal family. In 1366 Chaucer married Philippa Roet, a lady-in-waiting to the Queen. Chaucer rose socially through his marriage. In 1368 he became one of the King's esquires, which in those days meant that he worked in the administrative department of the King's government. One of his duties was to act as a government envoy on foreign Diplomatic missions. Chaucer's diplomatic missions took him first to France and later to Italy.

Chaucer's poetry is generally divided into three periods.

The French period. While in France Geoffrey Chaucer came in contact with French literature, his earliest poems were written in imitation of the French romances. He translated from French a famous allegorical poem of the 13th century, “The Romance of the Rose”.

The Italian period. In 1372 Chaucer was sent to Genoa to arrange a commercial treaty. In Italy he became acquainted with Italian life and culture, with the classical authors and with the newer Italian works of Dante and Petrarch, with the tales of Boccaccio. In Chaucer's own writing, the French models of his earliest years gave way to this Italian influence. To the Italian period can be assigned “The House of Fame”, a didactic poem; “The Parliament of Fowls” (birds), an allegorical poem satirizing Parliament; “Troilus and Criseyda”, which is considered to be the predecessor of the psychological novel in England, and “The Legend of Good Women”, a dream-poem.

The English, period. After his return to London, Chaucer became a customs official at the port of London. He gave up his job in 1386, and began composing his masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales”, but it remained unfinished.

He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey in a section, which later became established as the Poet's Corner. Chaucer was the last English writer of the Middle Ages and the first of the Renaissance.

“The Canterbury Tales”

“The Canterbury Tales”, for which Chaucer's name is best remembered, is a long poem with a general introduction (“The Prologue”), the clearest picture of late medieval life existent anywhere. The framework, which serves to connect twenty-four stories, told in verse, is a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury. In the prologue thirty men and women from all ranks of society pass before the readers' eyes. Chaucer draws a rapid portrait of each traveller, thus showing his character. Chaucer himself and a certain Harry Bailly, the host (owner) of a London inn are among them. Harry Bailly proposes the following plan: each pilgrim was to tell two stories on the way to the shrine and two on the way back. The host would be their guide and would judge their stories. He who told the best story was to have a fine supper at the expense of the others.

Chaucer planned to include 120 stories, but he managed only twenty-four, some of them were not completed. The individual stories are of many kinds: religious stories, legends, fables, fairy tales, sermons, and courtly romances. Short story writers in the following centuries learned much about their craft from Geoffrey Chaucer.

As it was already mentioned, Chaucer introduces each of his pilgrims in the prologue, and then he lets us know about them through stories they tell. His quick, sure strokes portray the pilgrims at once as types and individuals true of their own age and, still more, representative of humanity in general. He keeps the whole poem alive by interspersing the tales themselves with the talk, the quarrels, and the opinions of the pilgrims. The passage below is a part from the prologue, where the author introduces a plowman:

There was a Plowman with him there, his brother

Many aload of dung one time or other

He must have carted through the morning dew.

He was an honest worker, good and true,

Living in peace and perfect charity,

And, as the gospel bade him, so did he,

Loving God best with all his heart and mind

And then his neighbour as himself, repined

At no misfortune, slacked for no content,

For steadily about his work he went

To thrash his corn, to dig or to manure

Or make a ditch; and he would help the poor

For love of Christ and never take a penny

If he could help it, and, as prompt as any,

He paid his tithes and full when they were due

On what he owned, and on his earning too

He wore a tabard smock and rode a mare.

In “Canterbury Tales” Chaucer introduced a rhythmic pattern called iambic pentameter into English poetry. This pattern, or meter, consists of 10 syllables alternately unaccented and accented in each line. The lines may or may not rhyme. Iambic pentameter became a widely used meter in English poetry.

Chaucer's contribution to English literature is usually explained by the following:

1. “The Canterbury Tales” sum up all types of stories that existed in the Middle Ages.

2. He managed to show different types of people that lived during his time and through these people he showed a true picture of the life of the 14th century. (The pilgrims range in rank from a knight to a poor plowman. Only the very highest and lowest ranks - the nobility and the serfs - are missing.)

3. In Chaucer's age the English language was still divided by dialects, though London was rapidly making East Midland into a standard language. Chaucer was the creator of a new literary language. He chose to write in English, the popular language of common people, though aristocracy of his time read and spoke French. Chaucer was the true founder of English literature.

4. Chaucer was by learning a man of the Middle Ages, but his attitude towards mankind was so broad-minded that his work is timeless. He is the earliest English poet who may still be read for pleasure today.

Literature of the 15th century

Chaucer as a poet is so good that he makes the fifteenth century appear dull. His death was a great blow to English poetry. Almost two centuries passed before a poet equal to him was born. But folk poetry flourished in England and Scotland in the 15th century. The most interesting examples of folk poetry were ballads. Ballads and songs expressed the sentiments and thoughts of people. They were handed down orally from generation to generation. The art of printing did not stop the creation of folk-songs and ballads. They were still composed at the dawn of the 18th century.

The original authors of ballads are unknown; in fact, a given ballad may exist in several versions, because many different people told and revised the ballad as it travelled from village to village. But when a version seemed just right, its teller would be urged to recite the story again and again without changing a thing.

Below you'll read some stanzas that represent the style of folk ballads.

The Wife of Usher's Well

There lived a wife at Usher's Well,

1. And a wealthy wife was she;

She had three stout1 and stalwart sons,

And sent them o'er the sea.

They hadna' been a week from her,

5. A week but barely ane,2

When word came to the carlin3 wife

That her three sons were gane.4

They hadna' been a week from her,

10. A week but barely three,

When word came to the carlin wife

That her sons she'd never see.

I wish the “wind may never cease,

15. Nor fashes in the flood,5

Till my three sons come hame to me,

In earthly flesh and blood.”

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Folk Ballads

A folk ballad is a popular literary form. It comes from unlettered people rather than from professional minstrels or scholarly poets. That is why the ballad tends to express its meaning in simple language. (But the centuries-old dialect of many folk ballads may seem to readers complex ). The ballad stanza consists of four lines (a quatrain), rhyming abcb, with four accented syllables within the first and third lines and three in the second and fourth lines.

There 'lived a 'wife at 'Usher's 'Well, a

And a 'wealthy 'was 'she; b

She had 'three 'stout and 'stalwart 'sons, c

And 'sent them 'o'er the 'sea. b

Some folk ballads make use of refrains, repetitions of a line or lines in every stanza without variation. Refrains add emphasis and a note of continuity to the ballads.

As regards to content, the ballads are usually divided into three groups: historical, heroic, and romantic ballads. Historical ballads were based on a historical fact, while heroic ballads were about people who were persecuted by the law or by their own families. Among the most popular ones were those about Robin Hood, who was an outlaw.

Robin Hood Ballads

The Robin Hood ballads, numbering some forty separate ballads, were written down at various times not earlier than the 14th and 15th centuries. Robin Hood is a partly historical, partly legendary character. Most probably he lived in the second half of the 12th century, during the reign of Henry II and his son Richard, the Lion Heart. The older ballads tell us much about the Saxon yeomen, who were famous archers and keen hunters. Being ill treated by the Norman robber-barons, they longed to live free in the forest with Robin as their leader. Robin Hood always helped the country folk in their troubles. Though sheriff put a big price on Robin's head, Saxons didn't betray him.

Thus, Robin was an outlaw and lived in Sherwood Forest. He was smart and clever “with a twinkle in the eye”. Whenever the Sheriff or the king sent out a party of men to catch him, Robin fought with so much vigour that his enemies, amazed at his bravery, confessed themselves beaten and stayed with him in the forest. They became “the merry men of Robin Hood”.

In the 16th century many new episodes were introduced into the ballads. They were arranged in series, the most popular of which was “The Jolly Life of Robin Hood and His Men in Sherwood”.

Here is one of the best-known Robin Hood ballads in Modern English spelling.

Robin Hood and Allan-a-Dale

Come listen to me, you gallants so free

All you that love mirth for to hear,

And I will tell you of a bold outlaw

That lived in Nottinghamshier.

As Robin Hood in the forest stood,

All under the greenwood tree,

There he was aware of a brave young man

As fine as fine might be.

The youngster was clothed in scarlet red,

In scarlet fine and gay;

And he did frisk it over the plain,

And chanted a roundelay.

As Robin Hood next morning stood

Amongst the leaves so gay,

There did he espy the same young man,

Come drooping along the way.

The scarlet he wore the day before

It was clean cast away;

And at every step he fetched a sigh,

“Alack and a well-a-day!”

Then stepped forth brave Little John,

And Midge, the miller's son,

Which made the young man bend his bow,

When as he saw them come.

“Stand off, stand off!” the young man said,

“What is your will with me?”

“You must come before our master straight,

Under yon greenwood tree.”

And when he came bold Robin before,

Robin asked him courteously,

“O, hast thou any money to spare

For my merry men and me?”

“I have no money,” the young man said,

“But five shillings and a ring;

And that I have kept this seven long years,

To have it at my wedding.

Yesterday I should have married a maid,

But she soon from me was tane,

And chosen to be an old knight's delight,

Whereby my poor heart is slain.”

“What is thy name?” then said Robin Hood,

“Come tell me without any fail:”

“By the faith of my body,” then said the young man,

“My name it is Allan-a-Dale.”

“What wilt thou give me?” said Robin Hood,

In ready gold or fee,

To help thee to thy true love again,

And deliver her into thee?”

“I have no money” then quoth the young man,

“No ready gold nor fee,

But I will swear upon a book

Thy true servant for to be.”

“How many miles is it to thy true love?

Come tell me without guile:”

“By the faith of my body,” then said the young man,

“It is but five little mile.”

Then Robin he hasted over the plain,

He did neither sting nor lin,

Until he came unto the church,

Where Allan should keep his wedding.

“What hast thou here”, the bishop then said

“I prithee now tell unto me:”

“I am a bold harper,” quoth Robin Hood,

“And the best in the north country.”

“O welcome, o welcome,” the bishop he said,

“That music best pleaseth me;”

“You shall have no music,” quoth Robin Hood,

“Till the bride and the bridegroom I see.”

With that came in a wealthy knight,

Which was both grave and old,

And after him a bonnie lass,

Did shine like the glistering gold.

“This is not a fit match,” quoth bold Robin Hood,

“That you do seem to make here,

For since we are come into the church,

The bride shall choose her own dear.”

Then Robin Hood put his horn to his mouth,

And blew blasts two or three;

When four-and-twenty bowmen bold

Came leaping over the lea.

And when they came into the churchyard,

Marching all on a row,

The very first man was Allan-a-Dale,

To give bold Robin his bow.

“This is thy true love,” Robin he said,

“Young Allan as I hear say;

And you shall be married at this same time,

Before we depart away.”

“That shall not be,” the bishop he said,

“For thy word shall not stand;

They shall be three times asked in the church,

As the law is of our land.”

Robin Hood pulled off the bishop's coat,

And put it upon Little John;

“By the faith of my body,” then Robin said,

This cloth doth make thee a man.”

When Little John went into the quire,

The people began to laugh;

He asked them seven times in the church,

Lest three times should not be enough.

“Who gives me this maid?” said Little John;

Quoth Robin Hood, “That do I,

And he that takes her from Allan-a-Dale

Full dearly he shall her buy.”

And thus having end of this merry wedding,

The bride looked like a queen;

And so they returned to the merry greenwood,

Amongst the leaves so green.

UNIT 3. RENAISSANCE

Renaissance was a great cultural movement that began in Italy during the early 1330's. It spread to England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and other countries in the late 1400's and ended about 1600.

The word “Renaissance” comes from the Latin word “rinascere” and means rebirth. The Renaissance was the period when European culture was at its height. At that time great importance was assigned to intellect, experience, scientific experiment. The new ideology proclaimed the value of human individuality. This new outlook was called Humanism. The humanists were scholars and artists who studied subjects that they believed would help them better understand the problems of humanity. These subjects included literature and philosophy. The humanists considered that the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome had excelled in such subjects and could serve as models.

During the Middle Ages the most important branch of learning was theology. Renaissance thinkers paid greater attention to the study of humanity.

The Renaissance In Engand

During the Renaissance period (particularly 1485-1603) Middle English began to develop into Modern English. By the late 1500's the English people were speaking and writing English in a form much like that used today.

The Renaissance in England is usually studied by dividing it into three parts: the rise of the Renaissance under the early Tudor monarchs (1500-1558), the height of the Renaissance under Elizabeth I (1558-1603), and the decline of the Renaissance under the Stuart monarchs (1603-1649).

The Rise of the Renaissance

The invention of printing press and improved methods of manufacturing paper made possible the rapid spread of knowledge. In 1476, during the Wars of the Roses, William Caxton set up the first printing press in London. Before that time, books and other literary works were slowly and laboriously copied by hand. Printing made it possible to produce far more books at lower costs. By 1640 Caxton's and other presses had printed more than 216,000 different works and editions. It is estimated that by 1530 more than half the population of England was literate. Learning at that time flourished not only at Oxford and Cambridge, but at the lower educational levels too.

At that period new types of literature were imported from the European continent. Chief among these were the sonnet, imported by Wyatt and Surrey from Italy, where it had been perfected by Francis Petrarch; and the essay, imported by Sir Francis Bacon from France. Other verse forms were also borrowed from the Italian and the French. The native drama continued to develop and gain popularity.

The Height of the Renaissance

Under the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), order was restored, and England entered upon her most glorious age. Elizabeth was only twenty-five when she assumed the throne, never married, and ruled wisely and well for forty-five years.

Interested in education, Queen Elizabeth established one hundred free grammar schools in all parts of the country. These schools were open to both sexes of all ranks. In 1579, Gresham College was founded in London to cater to the needs of the middle class. Unlike the classical curriculum offered by Oxford and Cambridge, its curriculum included law, medicine and other practical courses. As the children of the middle class grew better educated, the middle class itself grew in power.

During Elizabeth's reign, England began to gain supremacy on the seas. The Elizabethan Age is an age of poetry. Except perhaps for the essayist Francis Bacon and the critic Christopher Marlowe, people were not yet writing prose of literary quality. Some Elizabethan writers dealt exclusively in lyric poetry, but many were also playwrights writing their plays in verse.

The Elizabethan period was golden age of English drama. In 1576, James Burbage built England's first playhouse, called The Theatre, in a subburb of London. Until this time, drama had been performed in the streets, in homes and palaces, and at English universities. After Burbage built The Theatre, other playhouses were constructed, which rapidly increased the popularity of drama.

A group of leading Elizabethan playwrights was known as the “University Wits” because they had attended the famous English universities at Oxford or Cambridge. These playwrights included Robert Greene, Christopher Marlowe, and George Peele. Marlowe was the most important dramatist among the Wits.

William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and other more than a dozen first-rate playwrights also created their skillful dramas at that period. Blank verse, introduced into the language by Surrey, became the main form for writing tragedies and comedies.

In 1600, when the new century began, Elizabeth was an aging queen not in the best of health. She was childless. After her death, in 1603, King James of Scotland, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, became the king of England.

The Decline of the Renaissance

James I, the first Stuart king, had little first-hand knowledge of England. Elizabeth had managed to maintain religious balance between Protestants and Catholics, but under the Stuarts that balance was lost. Religious and political unrest was growing.

At that period a number of young Cavaliers, loyal to the king, wrote about love and loyalty, but even in the love poems it is evident that the freshness of the Elizabethan era had passed. Among the best of these poets were Richard Lovelace and Robert Herrick.

Drama continued to flourish in England under the Stuarts. Shakespeare's great tragedies were written during the reign of King James, and Shakespeare's acting company, taken under the patronage of the king, became known as the King's Men. The theatre in fact remained a popular form of entertainment until the puritan government closed all playhouses in 1649.

The greatest of the Puritan poets, and one of the greatest English poets was John Milton, Latin secretary to the Puritan Commonwealth. While in this position his sight began to fail ; eventually he became blind. He composed “Paradise Lost”, his greatest work and the most successful English epic, sightless.

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Three chief forms of poetry flourished during the Elizabethan Age. They were the lyric, the sonnet, and narrative poetry.

The lyric is a short poem that expresses a poet's personal emotions and thoughts in a songlike style.

The sonnet is a 14-line poem with a certain pattern of rhyme and rhythm. Elizabethan poets wrote two types of sonnets, the Italian sonnet and the English sonnet. The two types differed in the arrangement of the rhymes. Sir Thomas Wyatt introduced the sonnet from Italy into English literature in the early 1500's. William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser wrote sonnet sequences. A sonnet sequence is a group of sonnets based on a single theme or about one person.

Narrative poetry. A narrative poem tells a story. Shakespeare's “Venus and Adonis” and Spenser's “The Faerie Queene” are the examples of narrative poetry.

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

One of the outstanding representatives of the English Renaissance was Sir Thomas More. He was a great English author, statesman, and scholar. More was born in London, probably in 1477 or 1478. He studied at Oxford. More began his career as a lawyer in 1494, and became an undersheriff of London in 1510, and then held mi